Southern Africa's Children
An update of the status of this charity that out Club has supported
Southern Africa's Children
Newport Pagnell Rotary supported this small, local charity from its inception, and several Rotarians have asked for an update. For the benefit of newer members who may not be aware of Southern Africa's Children, I will give some background information, before concluding with the current status and intentions of the charity.
During university vacation in summer 1998, my daughter Jenny completed an overseas voluntary project in Shinyanga province, north western Tanzania, just south of Lake Victoria. Although born in Africa, Jenny had lived most of her life in the UK and was shocked by the problems experienced by rural African communities. She committed herself to helping.
Jenny's initial objective was to support Hope School at which she had worked during her university vacation. The school was little more than the shell of a building. After completing her studies and spending some time working, Jenny visited Tanzania at her own expense to discuss an action plan with the head teacher Mrs Bahati Dede. On her return home, Jenny founded her charity Southern Africa's Children (SAC) in 2002. The charity's principles were that all money raised would be used for projects agreed with the recipients and that the charity would be run by volunteers with no paid staff. Rotarian David Robertson became one of the Trustees.
Throughout 2003, SAC raised £5,000 through coffee mornings, presentations, personal donations, and an award from Newport Pagnell Rotary. In 2004, Rushton School "twinned" with Hope School, and sent the children in Tanzania books and sports equipment. More fundraising provided the Hope School pupils with shoes and uniforms. As the children were orphans whose parents had died from AIDS, they did not receive the traditional home training in horticulture and animal husbandry that is so important to rural African communities. Some of the money donated by Newport Pagnell Rotary was used to buy goats for the children to tend, plus seeds and tools for them to grow traditional crops in the school grounds. Other funding was used to construct new classrooms and provide desks and basic equipment.
In 2005, Jenny visited Hope School again at her own expense to evaluate progress and agree a five year plan with the headmistress and staff. By this stage, Hope School had achieved a good reputation for academic achievement. That attracted private pupils whose fees paid for additional teachers. With adequate classrooms and teaching staff, attention turned to accommodation for the orphans, and plans were drawn up for dormitories.
A major fund-raising project was started in 2006. With support from companies and wealthy individuals, enough money was raised to build two dormitories for boys and girls. In 2007 the girls' dormitory was equipped with beds, a generator and fridges. Fund raising continued and over £56,000 was raised, which was enough to complete and equip the boys' dormitory in 2007.
With the school making good progress, Jenny could take time out for maternity leave in 2007/2008. She visited Hope School again in 2009 to evaluate the next developments. By that time, Hope School was rated 3rd highest in Tanzania for academic achievement. The school had 193 pupils, including 31 orphans funded directly by SAC. 27 orphans previously funded by SAC had already progressed to secondary school. Hope School had also become self-sustaining through fees from private students, with little need for further funding from SAC. The charity did, however, receive financial support from a local trust, and from the Rotary BBQ held at the home of David Robertson, to fund orphans progressing to higher education, and also to provide bicycles for some orphans as an alternative to a long walk or expensive taxi.
Since 2012, Southern Africa's Children's support for Hope School has been essentially complete. It had transformed from a single, broken down hut with a few pupils, to a school with several classrooms for 200 students, dormitories with shower blocks for orphans, and gardens where students continue to grow vegetables and keep goats. Hope School has a stable and committed staff, and is self-funding.
Jenny has maintained close but "hands-off" contact with Hope School, and will visit again when she gets the opportunity in her busy life.
The second project undertaken by Southern Africa's Children, in parallel to Hope School, was support for the Albinism Society on Ukerewe Island in Lake Victoria. Albinos were stigmatised in Tanzania and considered to be "magical" beings. Some were killed at birth, and others were murdered for their body parts to be used in "witchcraft". Because of their lack of skin pigmentation, Albinos suffer severe sunburn and skin cancer. They often suffer poor eyesight and relative physical weakness. A large Albino community developed on Ukerewe Island, which provided greater security and safety. There are numerous articles available from the Internet that provide further information.
Southern Africa's Children had a four phase approach to supporting Ukerewe Albinism Society:
1. Provide hats and sunscreen for protection
2. Train the Albino community in small business management and provide micro-finance for business start-ups. The concept was to enable Albinos to provide services to the wider community and through this gain greater acceptance to break down the historic barriers of stigmatisation.
3. Raise awareness internationally of the plight of Albinos in Tanzania.
4. Raise finance to build a community centre, library and clinic for the Albino Society. An essential concept was it that should also be used by the wider community, further helping acceptance and integration of Albinos. Some facilities would be rented out, thereby generating income to maintain the centre.
Southern Africa's Children successfully completed phases one and two between 2005 and 2008. During this period, discrimination against and murder of Albinos in Tanzania became more widely known, and the Tanzanian government took steps to prevent it.
SAC consulted to film maker Harry Freeland, who visited Ukerewe Island to make a documentary for the BBC's Storyville series. It was broadcast under the title "Albino Witchcraft Murders" in 2012 and received widespread recognition and offers of support to the Ukererwe Albinism Society.
At this time, Jenny was fully occupied with work and a young family. She recognised the funds that Southern Africa could raise would be insignificant compared to offers of financial support resulting from the BBC documentary. She therefore agreed to transfer support for the Ukerewe Albino Society to the NGO "Standing Voice" set up by the film maker Harry Freeland in 2013. However, Jenny still maintains regular contact with Ukerewe Island.
To conclude, Southern Africa's Children was founded in 2002 with two major projects; support for Hope School and support for the Ukerewe Albinism Society. Over the next ten years, all the objectives for the two projects were met, and both became self-sustaining. Southern Africa's Children has maintained contact with both projects, and has provided small scale financial support if needed since 2012. In 2019, Jenny considers that Southern Africa's Children has completed its mission, and the time has come to close it down. Her family and work commitments leave her insufficient time to take on new projects.
The role that Newport Pagnell played in the success of Southern Africa's Children is gratefully recognised and appreciated by Jenny. Rotary provided the seed capital for the initial projects that led to major achievements, giving significant support to the disadvantaged in Tanzania.
Ian Townsend, Newport Pagnell Rotary
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